While we focus on global reads written by native authors about their own countries like the Ethiopian books here, we also found a wide variety of great books related to Ethiopia in some way. While these 13 books can’t be included in our official global reading list, they provide an interesting viewpoint & truly engaging reads. Check out our list of Ethiopian related reads below.
Happy reading!
Written by an author who left Ethiopia as a young child:
This memorable, heartbreaking story opens in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1974, on the eve of a revolution. Yonas kneels in his mother’s prayer room, pleading to his god for an end to the violence that has wracked his family and country. His father, Hailu, a prominent doctor, has been ordered to report to jail after helping a victim of state-sanctioned torture to die. And Dawit, Hailu’s youngest son, has joined an underground resistance movement—a choice that will lead to more upheaval and bloodshed across a ravaged Ethiopia.
Beneath the Lion’s Gaze tells a gripping story of family, of the bonds of love and friendship set in a time and place that has rarely been explored in fiction. It is a story about the lengths human beings will go in pursuit of freedom and the human price of a national revolution. Emotionally gripping, poetic, and indelibly tragic, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze is a transcendent and powerful debut.
“Mengiste gracefully builds the story to a heart-pumping conclusion…Even with its share of tragedy, this is an absorbing drama…enhanced by the author's spare, spectacular prose.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“[Mengiste's] honors do not belie her skill, for this book is stunning.” —Library Journal
Written by an author born in Eritrea who scraped through his childhood years between relatives' houses & the streets of Ethiopia:
Born in the midst of the Ethiopian-Eritrean Civil War, Tewodros “Teddy” Fekadu survives abandonment and famine as his family flings him unwanted across borders and regions, into orphanages, and finally onto the streets of Addis Ababa.
Spanning five countries and three continents, the Catholic Church and Japanese detention centers, this is a tale of defiance and triumph, and also of family love—unacknowledged by his wealthy father, abandoned by his desperately poor mother, Teddy is nurtured along the way by staunch individuals despite his ambiguous place in rigid family tradition: his father’s mother, a maternal aunt, a priest, and even his father’s wife.
In 2003, after three years in a Japanese detention center, Teddy a hard-fought immigration battle, and his visa to Australia was approved. He now resides on the Gold Coast, where he founded an association that shares African traditions and heritage through performance and educational programs. He also works with organizations to resettle African refugees to the Gold Coast. He is an inspirational speaker, presenting to such diverse audiences as adoptive families, human rights groups, schools, and East African immigrants. Tewodros’ company, Moonface Entertainment, produces films and documentaries on East Africa. He regularly returns to Africa to shoot footage for his projects, and travels to the United States to promote his work.
“The spare writing tells an eloquent story.... Set against vicious conflicts across borders and within local streets, the moving prose makes universal connections.” —Booklist
Written by an author from the UK who worked in Ethiopian hospitals:
Winner of The People's Book Prize 2019
How can you hold a baby next to your skin without it touching your heart?
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: When adopted midwife Mariam embarks on a project to protect an abandoned premature baby, she is forced to face her own abandonment years before. Time is running out before the baby is sent to the orphanage. Mysterious characters from the city surrounding the hospital will be crucial in determining the baby’s fate, as will a workaholic British doctor with whom Mariam finds herself falling in love...
Alice Allan's debut novel is an original, vivid and moving story about attachment and loss.
“A beautiful style of writing with wonderful descriptions, creating vivid images in one's mind. If you're not particularly interested in Ethiopia it doesn't matter—still a great story which may pique your interest to discover more. If you are interested in all that is Ethiopia, it won't disappoint, but add beautifully to your insatiable addiction!” —Dale D
Written by an author from the US who traveled through Ethiopia & Kenya:
After being laid off from his job at a prestigious consulting firm, Dean decides to embark on a journey across East Africa with his younger brother. Unknowingly, they travel into bandit territory where a medical emergency forces them to choose between their safety and their health.
Inspired by true events, The Watermelon King follows the journey of two brothers as they backpack across one of East Africa’s most inhospitable regions.
As they endure endless days of difficult travel, a series of short stories written by their father begins to uncover their inherent desire for adventure and their connection to the past. Along the way, they begin to understand the beauty and frustration of life in Africa.
“Great travelogue moments, all memorably described.” —Jools Baker
Written by an author from the UK:
A compelling brew of mystery, crime, and science revealing the details behind the search for the lost Ark of the Covenant.
The Lost Ark of the Covenant is one of the great historical mysteries of all time. To believers, the Ark is the legendary vessel holding the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. The Bible contains hundreds of references to the Ark’s power to level mountains, destroy armies, and lay waste to cities. The Ark itself, however, mysteriously disappears from recorded history sometime after the building of the Temple of Solomon.
After ten years of searching through the dusty archives of Europe and the Middle East, as well as braving the real-life dangers of a bloody civil war in Ethiopia, Graham Hancock has succeeded where scores of others have failed. This intrepid journalist tracked down the true story behind the myths and legends—revealing where the Ark is today, how it got there, and why it remains hidden.
Part fascinating scholarship and part entertaining adventure yarn, tying together some of the most intriguing tales of all time–from the Knights Templar and Prester John to Parsival and the Holy Grail–this book will appeal to anyone fascinated by the revelation of hidden truths, the discovery of secret mysteries.
“Anyone who likes a great intellectual detective yarn will plunge into The Sign and the Seal and not come up until the end.” —Seattle Times
Written by a native Ethiopian who left the country while in the middle of medical school due to the Ethiopian civil war before ultimately becoming a doctor in the US:
National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
Nestled in the Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee, the town of Johnson City had always seemed exempt from the anxieties of modern American life. But when the local hospital treated its first AIDS patient, a crisis that had once seemed an “urban problem” had arrived in the town to stay.
Working in Johnson City was Abraham Verghese, a young doctor specializing in infectious diseases. Dr. Verghese became by necessity the local AIDS expert, soon besieged by a shocking number of male and female patients whose stories came to occupy his mind, and even take over his life. Verghese brought a singular perspective to Johnson City: as a doctor unique in his abilities; as an outsider who could talk to people suspicious of local practitioners; above all, as a writer of grace and compassion who saw that what was happening in this conservative community was both a medical and a spiritual emergency.
Out of his experience comes a startling but ultimately uplifting portrait of the American heartland as it confronts—and surmounts—its deepest prejudices and fears.
“A fine mix of compassion and precision.... Verghese makes indelible narratives of his cases, and they read like wrenching short stories.” —Time
“Remarkable.... An account of the plague years in America. Beautifully written, fascinating and tragic, by a doctor who was changed and shaped by his patients.”
—The NY Times Book Review
Written by an author who left Ethiopia as a child:
This powerful book gives readers a chance to experience Ethiopia through the personal experience of a writer who is both Ethiopian and American. It takes readers beyond headlines and stereotypes to a deeper understanding of the country. This is an absorbing account of the author’s return trip to Ethiopia as an adult, having left the country in exile with her family at age 11.
Haile profiles relatives and friends who have remained in Ethiopia as she writes movingly about Ethiopia’s recent past and its ancient history. She offers a clear-eyed analysis of the state of the country today, and her keen observations and personal experience will resonate with readers. This is a unique glimpse into a fascinating African country by a talented writer.
“This is a riveting and personal look at a nation still in turmoil.” —Booklist
”This engaging read provides a compelling face to the story of Ethiopia today.” —Library Journal
Written by an author who left Ethiopia as a child:
Seventeen years ago, Sepha Stephanos fled the Ethiopian Revolution for a new start in the United States. Now he finds himself running a failing grocery store in a poor African-American section of Washington, D.C., his only companions two fellow African immigrants who share his bitter nostalgia and longing for his home continent. Years ago and worlds away, Sepha could never have imagined a life of such isolation.
As his environment begins to change, hope comes in the form of a friendship with new neighbors Judith and Naomi, a white woman and her biracial daughter. But when a series of racial incidents disturbs the community, Sepha may lose everything all over again.
“This a great African novel, a great Washington novel, and a great American novel.” —The New York Times Book Review
”[A] tender, enthralling debut novel about the hidden lives of immigrants who are caught between the brutal Africa they have fled and an America that will not full admit them...Mengestu brilliantly illuminates both the trauma of exile and the ways in which so many of us are still looking for home in America.” —O, The Oprah Magazine
”Wonderfully written and moving.” —Esquire
Note: The book may be known as “Children of the Revolution” in other countries.
Written by an author who left Ethiopia as a young child:
Shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, and named a best book of the year by The NY Times, NPR, Elle, Time, and more,
Set during Mussolini’s 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, The Shadow King takes us back to the first real conflict of World War II, casting light on the women soldiers who were left out of the historical record. At its heart is orphaned maid Hirut, who finds herself tumbling into a new world of thefts and violations, of betrayals and overwhelming rage. What follows is a heartrending and unputdownable exploration of what it means to be a woman at war.
Stunning.… [Mengiste] produced a work of fiction that is epic in reach, with brilliant borrowings from the forms of classic tragedy.… The book is impossible to put down or put out of mind.” —BookPage
“A sprawling, unforgettable epic from an immensely talented author who's unafraid to take risks... [R]endered all the more effective by Mengiste's gift at creating memorable characters... The star of the novel, however, is Mengiste's gorgeous writing, which makes The Shadow King nearly impossible to put down... [O]ne of the most beautiful novels of the year.” —NPR
(A special thank you to book club member, Eydis West for the suggestion.)
Written by an author from Australia who spent the majority of her life in Ethiopia:
Set against the harsh beauty of the Ethiopian landscape, this is a compelling account of how the determination and compassion of one woman have inspired others to create genuinely long-lasting change, not just in the lives of individual women but across a nation.
Gynaecologists Catherine and Reg Hamlin left Australia in 1959 on a short contract to establish a midwifery school in Ethiopia. Over 40 years later, Catherine is still there at the head of a world-recognised medical program in Ethiopia that specialises in the treatment of labour-induced fistulas. Left untreated, fistulas—rare in Western countries—result in severe incontinence, which forces women into a life of degradation and incapacity.
Catherine and her team established six fistula hospitals, a village to accommodate patients and a midwifery school, and pioneered techniques that are used the world over. They won the respect of the Ethiopian government, the Nobel Committee (she has twice been nominated for the Peace Prize) and the hearts of donors around the world, including Oprah Winfrey, whose emotional interview with Catherine introduced millions to the life-threatening reality of giving birth in the Third World.
This is a story of hope.
“Dr. Hamlin is the Mother Teresa of our age.” —The New York Times
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Written by an author from the US who moved to Ethiopia as a young child:
In 1964, at the age of three, Tim Bascom is thrust into a world of eucalyptus trees and stampeding baboons when his family moves from the Midwest to Ethiopia. The unflinchingly observant narrator of this memoir reveals his missionary parents’ struggles in a sometimes hostile country. Sent reluctantly to boarding school in the capital, young Tim finds that beyond the gates enclosing that peculiar, isolated world, conflict roils Ethiopian society. When secret riot drills at school are followed with an attack by rampaging students near his parents' mission station, Tim witnesses the disintegration of his family’s African idyll as Haile Selassie’s empire begins to crumble.
Like Alexandra Fuller’s Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Chameleon Days chronicles social upheaval through the keen yet naive eyes of a child. Bascom offers readers a fascinating glimpse of missionary life, much as Barbara Kingsolver did in The Poisonwood Bible.
“Memories of a pet chameleon, a banquet with the emperor, the descent of winged termites, a hideaway high in an avocado tree and the cry of hyenas outside the window on Christmas Eve. The observations grow more sophisticated as the country succumbs to political unrest and missionary life becomes uncertain. Nostalgic but not overwrought, Bascom's memoir is accented with casual family snapshots like ribbons on the gift of a gently captured place in time.” —Publishers Weekly
Written by an author from Poland:
Haile Selassie, King of Kings, Elect of God, Lion of Judah, His Most Puissant Majesty and Distinguished Highness the Emperor of Ethiopia, reigned from 1930 until he was overthrown by the army in 1974. While the fighting still raged, Ryszard Kapuscinski, Poland’s leading foreign correspondent, traveled to Ethiopia to seek out and interview Selassie’s servants and closest associates on how the Emperor had ruled and why he fell.
This “sensitive, powerful. . .history” (The New York Review of Books) is Kapuscinski’s rendition of their accounts—humorous, frightening, sad, groteque—of a man living amidst nearly unimaginable pomp and luxury while his people teetered between hunger and starvation.
“Kapuscinski transcends the limitations of journalism and writes with the narrative power of a Conrad or Kipling or Orwell.” —Blake Morrison
”A stunning exhibit; the interviewed subjects. . .enunciate their memories of the days of Haile Selassie with a magical elegance that. . .achieves poetry and aphorism.” —John Updike, The New Yorker
Written by a British-educated Afghan:
For more than a century Henry Rider Haggard's novel King Solomon's Mines has inspired generations of young men to set forth in search of adventure. But long before Rider Haggard's classic, explorers, theologians and scientists scoured the known world for the source of Solomon's astonishing wealth.
The Bible's wisest king built a temple at Jerusalem that was said to be more fabulous than any other landmark in the ancient world. Adorned with an abundance of gold, it was said to be gleaned from a mysterious land known as “Ophir”. Taking his leads from a mixture of texts including the Septuagint, the earliest known form of the Bible, as well as using geological, geographical and folkloric sources, Tahir Shah sets out in search for Solomon's gold mines. For him the obvious place to look is Ethiopia, the ancient and enigmatic realm nestled in the horn of Africa.
The ensuing journey takes Shah to a remote cliff-face monastery where the monks pull visitors up on a leather rope, to the ruined castles of Gondar, and to the fabulous rock-hewn churches at Lalibela. Then, in the south of the country, Shah discovers a massive illegal gold mine. Like something out of the Old Testament, there are thousands of men, women and children digging at the ground with their bare hands. But the hardest leg of the journey is to the “cursed mountain” of Tullu Wallel where legend says there lies an ancient shaft, once the entrance to Solomon’s mines.
In Search of King Solomon's Mines is regarded as a masterpiece of adventure, its twisting narrative itself touched with gold.
“As a historical detective, he's a bust—content with a bogus map and half-baked ideas. His only asset is an ironclad earnestness that borders on the pathological. Blithely descending into bat-infested caves at the merest hint of success, he really believes he's going to find the gold at any moment. Shah's pratfalls garnish his quirky tour of contemporary Ethiopia—a land with all of the ills of modernity and none of its benefits. But ultimately, Shah wins you over with the mad purity of his quest.” —The New Yorker